Proverbs 7

A Warning Against a Woman Who Commits Adultery

1 My son, obey my words. Store up my commands inside you.

2 Obey my commands and you will live. Guard my teachings as you would your own eyes.

3 Tie them on your fingers. Write them on the tablet of your heart.

4 Say to wisdom, "You are my sister." Call understanding a member of your family.

5 They will keep you from a woman who commits adultery. They will keep you from the smooth talk of a sinful wife.

6 I stood at the window of my house. I looked out through it.

7 Among those who were childish I saw a young man who had no sense.

8 He went down the street near that sinful woman's corner. He walked toward her house.

9 The sun had gone down. Day was fading. The darkness of night was falling.

10 A woman came out to meet him. She was dressed like a prostitute and had a clever plan.

11 She was a loud and pushy woman. She never stayed at home.

12 Sometimes in the streets, sometimes at other places, at every corner she would wait.

13 She took hold of the young man and kissed him. With a bold face she spoke to him.

14 She said, "At home I have meat left over from my offerings. Today I offered what I had promised I would.

15 So I came out to meet you. I looked for you. And I have found you!

16 I have covered my bed with colored sheets from Egypt.

17 I've perfumed my bed with spices. I used myrrh, aloes and cinnamon.

18 Come, let's drink our fill of love until morning. Let's enjoy ourselves by having sex!

19 My husband isn't home. He's gone on a long journey.

20 He took his bag full of money. He won't be home for several days."

21 She led him down the wrong path with her clever words. She charmed him with her smooth talk.

22 All at once he followed her. He was like an ox going to be killed. He was like a deer stepping into a trap

23 until an arrow struck its liver. He was like a bird rushing into a trap. Little did he know it would cost him his life!

24 My sons, listen to me. Pay attention to what I say.

25 Don't let your hearts turn to her ways. Don't step onto her paths.

26 She has brought down a lot of men. She has killed a huge crowd.

27 Her house is a road to the grave. It leads down to the place of the dead.

Proverbs 7 Commentary

Chapter 7

Invitations to learn wisdom. (1-5) The arts of seducers, with warnings against them. (6-27)

Verses 1-5 We must lay up God's commandments safely. Not only, Keep them, and you shall live; but, Keep them as those that cannot live without them. Those that blame strict and careful walking as needless and too precise, consider not that the law is to be kept as the apple of the eye; indeed the law in the heart is the eye of the soul. Let the word of God dwell in us, and so be written where it will be always at hand to be read. Thus we shall be kept from the fatal effects of our own passions, and the snares of Satan. Let God's word confirm our dread of sin, and resolutions against it.

Verses 6-27 Here is an affecting example of the danger of youthful lusts. It is a history or a parable of the most instructive kind. Will any one dare to venture on temptations that lead to impurity, after Solomon has set before his eyes in so lively and plain a manner, the danger of even going near them? Then is he as the man who would dance on the edge of a lofty rock, when he has just seen another fall headlong from the same place. The misery of self-ruined sinners began in disregard to God's blessed commands. We ought daily to pray that we may be kept from running into temptation, else we invite the enemies of our souls to spread snares for us. Ever avoid the neighbourhood of vice. Beware of sins which are said to be pleasant sins. They are the more dangerous, because they most easily gain the heart, and close it against repentance. Do nothing till thou hast well considered the end of it. Were a man to live as long as Methuselah, and to spend all his days in the highest delights sin can offer, one hour of the anguish and tribulation that must follow, would far outweigh them.

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO PROVERBS 7

The sum of this chapter is to exhort men to attend to the doctrines and precepts of Wisdom, in order to avoid the adulterous woman; the exhortation to keep them with care, affection, and delight, in order to answer the end, is in Pr 7:1-5. A story is told, of Solomon's own knowledge, of a young man ensnared and ruined by a lewd woman; it begins Pr 7:6. The young man is described as foolish, and as throwing himself in the way of temptation, Pr 7:7-9; the harlot that met him is described by her attire, her subtlety, her voice, her inconstancy, her impudence, and pretensions to piety, Pr 7:10-14. The arguments she made use of to prevail upon him to go with her are taken partly from the elegance of her bed, the softness of it, and its sweet perfume, and satiety of love to be enjoyed in it, Pr 7:15-18; and partly from the absence of her husband, who was gone a long journey, and had made provision for it for a certain time, Pr 7:19,20. By which arguments she prevailed upon him to his utter ruin: which is illustrated by the similes of an ox going to the slaughter, a fool to the stocks, and a bird to the snare, Pr 7:21-23. And the chapter is concluded with an exhortation to hearken to the words of Wisdom, and to avoid the ways and paths of the harlot, by which many and mighty persons have been ruined; they being the direct road to hell and death, Pr 7:24-27.